Episode #15 | PAEK: The Superhero of Ultra-High-Performance Materials

Do you have experience with ultra-high-performance PEEK materials? Come from an industrial application with harsh chemical & thermal conditions? Robert McKay & Silvia Berretta of Victrex have extensive experience with PEEK and have been instrumental in launching PAEK, an ultra-high-performance option to PEEK with increased printability & more flexible processing window. In fact, VictrexAMTM 200 PAEK is now a Stratasys validated material. We've experienced challenges printing with PEEK & believe the processing ease & flexibility offered by PAEK could vastly accelerate the adoption of additive across applications like aerospace, defense, medical, heavy industrial & electronics. Learn how PAEK is an additive manufacturing superhero!
00:00 Intro
01:52 PEEK material & challenges
05:26 Intro to Victrex, inventor of PEEK
06:04 PAEK is the true superhero
06:30 Meet Robert McKay & Silvia Berretta
09:33 Victrex & PEEK designed for injection molding
10:35 Evidence of PEEK’s use worldwide
11:25 Victrex manufacturing
12:20 The AM world in Victrex
13:26 PEEK support group?
14:07 PAEK pulled by trends
15:50 Relationship between PEEK & PAEK
16:21 Misconceptions of PAEK
18:42 PAEK molecular differences & crystallization speed
21:39 PAEK lower viscosity & wider processing window
23:00 PAEK soluble supports & a sweet spot of crystallization
26:25 Victrex & the Stratasys OpenAM program
28:55 OpenAM Beta & first part using AM 200 PAEK
34:36 Acceptance and success of PAEK
36:47 PAEK qualified for aerospace flight uses
38:28 Defining certifications to achieve
39:36 Higher chemical resistance
45:34 Reinforcement additives
48:25 Requests for fiber-filled filament
49:45 Specifying materials for additive
51:21 Drivers of carbon fiber
53:02 Advice about exploring PAEK
55:22 Confidence to align PAEK with PEEK applications
PAEK at DI Labs